With fast fashion avaliable so easily what makes us invest in vintage clothing?
Do they really not make things like they used to? What makes it so special?
Many of us started our treasured vintage collections many years ago and others are new to it all. Retro and vintage clothing has grown in popularity over the years and with online shopping it has made it easier to find that unique piece to add to our collection.
What makes this way of shopping so appealling?
At the Forefront of Fashion
This may sound strange, but all designers have to get inspiration from somewhere. Often vintage clothing is a fantastic source of inspiration or to learn about shapes, prints and techniques. How many times do we see pieces on the catwalk that are referencing iconic shapes and colours of a era.
By buying vintage you can have the authentic piece. A true piece of history in your wardrobe.
Experimenting to find your Unique Style
Fast fashion means that most of the time we see the same variation of clothing mass produced and everyone starting to look the same. But fashion is what someone else says is 'in' where as style is a unique representation of you! Vintage clothing allows us to experiment across the decades, mix and match until we find something thats our style.
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” - Coco Chanel
As many of us have experienced there is that special satisfying feeling when a person comments how much they 'love your outfit, where did you get it?' and you reply 'its vintage'. We know the chances of bumping into someone wearing the same as us is incredibly unlikely.
Environmental
A frightening quantity of clothing is disposed of each year. It has been easy to slip into the habit of buying clothing with little thought because its cheap and easy. This implusive shopping has left our wardrobes exploding with things we just don't wear.
350,000 tonnes, that’s around £140 million worth of used but still wearable clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year - Clothes Aid
Fortunately many of us are starting to think more about where our clothing comes from and how its made. Vintage clothing is part of this, by investing in these quality items we are making use of things that could possibly be discarded. Also it can be wonderful to wear pieces of clothing or jewellery that have been handed down to us by our loves ones. Repurposed or kept original, the memories these pieces carry are so special.
Quality
It has been said many times that they 'don't make things like they used to', well its true! Depending on the era you are drawn to, most vintage pieces were built to last. The quality of the material is often much higher and if it was designed with a seam allowance even better. This allowed the owner to adjust there favourite item of clothing over the years to their changing body shape. Something we just don't see now.
The world of vintage clothing has so many benefits but still ones can feel overwhelmed in sourcing and selecting pieces for their wardrobe. As well as caring and cleaning treasured vintage items. I will share advice and tips on these topics over the coming weeks.
Lucy xxx
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